The Twelve Fights of Christmas
by FrivolousFlare
Summary: It's Christmas Eve, and the Titans are all excited for tomorrow's festivities. However, a series of crimes break out. At first is appears as though the criminals of Jump City are paying tribute to the holiday in their own illegal way, but are they all connected? Is there something altogether more sinister going on?
1. Perry

**Hey guys. This special has been in the works for the past two years. Twice I meant to finish and upload it around the Christmas period, and twice I failed. So, my sister and I came up with an ingenious plan to upload the chapters throughout the year, that way I hopefully have more motivation to actually finish the story as I'll have a deadline for each section. **

**This…was meant to be put up January 25th. Unfortunately, I am a despicable human being and so failed in this so simple a task.**

**For my JCH readers, the next chapter is in the works. It's another awkward, bitty one but is slowly coming together. So keep a look out for that. **

* * *

_T'was the day before Christmas, and all through the tower, the Titans were practising their stupendous powers..._

_Apart from Robin who didn't have any._

"Alright guys," the leader called, causing his team mates to stop their exercises and look over to him. "I think we can take a break."

"Alright!" Beast Boy grinned, transforming back into a human after somersaulting off the bars he had been climbing on. "Time to make my famous, egg-free, butter-free gingerbread cookies!"

"As long as you don't expect us to eat any of them," Cyborg said, grimacing in disgust at the thought of vegan gingerbread. "Keep to one half of the kitchen; I gotta prep the turkey for tomorrow's lunch." Beast Boy pulled a face as the two of them made their way out of the training room and up to the kitchen.

"Dude! I've been a turkey! He was probably one of my friends!" Beast Boy cried once they reached their destination and Cyborg had pulled a large, pink form from the fridge.

"Since when did you spend your time chilling with turkeys?"

"Uh..."

* * *

Within ten minutes, Robin, Starfire and Raven had joined them and were sitting around the main room, watching a television programme about frostbite and amputation (Starfire's choice). Beast Boy and Cyborg were working silently in the kitchen, throwing glares at each other over their shoulders when they thought the other wasn't looking, when suddenly the alarm went off.

"Titans, trouble!" Robin said, leaping to his feet. They rushed over to the computer and Cyborg quickly began tapping a few buttons.

"At Parry's Orchard, just outside town," he said. Robin nodded.

"Let's go." The group rushed down to the car (where Raven was already buckled into the back seat, having transported straight there) and belted themselves in. Cyborg threw himself (carefully) into the front and began the fifteen minute drive to the orchard.

They expected it to be a small group of miscreant youths who had broken into the brewery for some free perry. However, when they arrived and burst into the brewery, having found the acres of pear trees empty of mayhem, the Titans were slightly surprised to find Billy Numerous (and copies) running amok.

"Looky here, Billy!" Billy cried, rolling around the room on a barrel of freshly made perry.

"Nice one Billy!" Billy replied from the large boxes of pears with Billy. They were taking a bite from each fruit before putting it back, cackling as they did so.

"Looking good, Billy!" the other pear-eating Billy called to another Billy.

"Thanks Billy!" grinned Billy, as he force-fed Parry Partridge, the orchard owner, rotten pears. Another Billy was using the bound man's bald head as a bongo.

"Hey, Billy." Billy frowned, drawing the bottle of perry away from his mouth. "This is the weirdest apple juice I ever had."

"That's 'cause it ain't apple juice, Billy," answered Billy. "It's pear juice."

"Alcoholic pear juice," Billy added.

"Drop the booze, Billy. This party's over." Robin and the rest of the Titans appeared in the doorway, lines set in un-amused straight lines. The Billys looked up in alarm, expressions of horror on their faces, and simultaneously they gulped.

Before head Billy could think up some witty retort, Beast Boy had transformed into a bull and rammed into him, sending him flying into a stack of barrels, which burst on impact and sprayed everyone with perry. Raven began picking up empty barrels and slamming them down on the Billys whilst Starfire wrenched the distillation tank from the wall and swung it at another few Billys. Others had gathered around Robin, but were picked off one by one by the Titan's well-aimed karate kicks. Behind him, Cyborg was using his sonic cannon to blast off any remaining Billys.

The next few minutes consisted of the Titans beating the Jingle Bells out of Billy and co. It was a relatively easy job as Billy wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, and he didn't have the support of the rest of the H.I.V.E. Five. The Police arrived shortly afterwards, handcuffing him and taking him away.

"Schools may have broken up for the holiday, but criminal scum bags sure haven't," one of the officers commented to Robin as he got into his car. "Anyway, thanks Titans. Merry Christmas."

Robin didn't reply and coldly watched the entourage of police cars and flashing lights drive away, back towards the city. "It's strange that Billy should be working on his own," he mused as his team mates gathered around him, "The H.I.V.E. are probably up to something."

"I'll run a check on the security systems of the banks, museums and high end stores in Jump, check for any breeches or anomalies," Cyborg said, opening up his arm.

They then heard a strange mumbling noise coming from inside the brewery. Robin and Raven exchanged frowns of confusion before cautiously approaching the door with the other Titans. It suddenly burst open to reveal a perry-drenched, rope-bound, grumpy old man. "You teenage hooligans! You've destroyed half of my brewery! It's been in my family for three generations! Get off of my property you hoodlums! If I find you around here again, I'll have you arrested for trespassing!"

And with that he hopped back inside, grumbling bitterly all the way.

"Huh, I thought he'd be more grateful," Beast Boy commented after the resounding bang of the door being slammed in their faces had faded.

"We didn't even get any free perry," Cyborg complained. "It would've gone great with my turkey."

"I do not understand this obsession with fermented juices of fruits and other produce," said Starfire as they began walking back to the car.

"It's a type of drink that makes people feel better about themselves," Raven explained dryly.

"Oh, like the celebratory brew of fnargorf?"

"...Yeah."

* * *

Someone, somewhere, was sitting and smiling.

* * *

**Perry may or may not be a good accompaniment to turkey. I don't know; I don't like alcoholic drinks. Neither do I know exactly how perry is made, so there may well be inaccuracies in that scene. **

**Thanks to my sister dearest who helped me, gave me a few ideas, et cetera. **

**MERRY…FEBRUARY! **

**Ho. Ho. Ho. **


	2. Gloves

"We don't even get Christmas Eve off," Beast Boy grumbled as they piled back into the car. "At least I didn't have time to put my gingerbread in the oven..."

"It belongs in a bin if you ask me," Cyborg replied. Before Beast Boy could fight back, the alert went off again, this time emulating from the dash board. Cyborg sighed and pressed a few buttons. "Fashion Museum."

"Who?" Robin asked.

"Mad Mod."

"Why am I not surprised..." droned Raven as Cyborg swerved sharply to the right. They reached the museum five minutes later and quickly threw themselves out of the car.

"Titans, go!" Robin cried dramatically as they began running into the building. They discovered Mad Mod standing in the middle of a large exhibit, looking around with a large grin stretched across his face.

"Ah, Titans, my duckies! I was beginning to wonder if your crime alert was broken. I wouldn't be surprised with these shoddy American electronics." The British fiend looked to the display case to his right, which held a pair of red, velvet gloves, lined with fur and purple jewels. "I was just doing a spot of late night Christmas shopping! I'm sure mumsie dear would love these gloves!"

"Only if her fashion taste is as bad as yours," Robin growled before taking a running leap to sock him in the face. However, just before he reached him, Mod side stepped and held up his cane.

"Not so fast, Robin. It looks like you don't understand the true meaning of Christmas, about giving to the poor and needy. Like my poor mum, who's in desperate need of a new pair of gloves." Mod waved the cane threateningly, smirking wickedly. "Don't worry, I'll fix you up with a bit of help from my old friend Charlie."

He slammed his thumb down on the button on the cane. Suddenly, the doors were wrenched off of their hinges and in clomped three robots. The first was small and white, and nearly transparent. On its head was a huge bulb which began shooting lasers at the titans. The second robot was large and green with a cornucopia of fruits, which turned out to be small bombs and explosives when it began throwing them. The third robot was tall and thin, covered in a black cloak and wielding a large, deadly scythe.

"What the dickens?" Cyborg cried out.

"Precisely!" Mad Mod replied, laughing as the third robot nearly took off Beast Boy's head.

"Get the cane," Robin yelled, dodging a bombardment of exploding apples.

Raven and Starfire nodded and began flying full speed towards Mod, who casually held out his arm, only for chains to shoot out from under his sleeve and wrap around them.

Robin grabbed a bird-a-rang from his belt and threw it into the robot's cornucopia which promptly exploded, blowing the robot to bits. He then charged towards Mod, avoiding another lot of glinting silver chains, and swung his foot out to knock the cane from his hand, only for his shoe to go straight through him.

Seeing the look of surprise on Robin's face, Mod grinned and said, "What? Maybe I'm an undigested bit of beef? Or a fragment of underdone potato?"

"My potatoes are never underdone!" Cyborg yelled in anger, aiming his sonic canon at Mod, only for the blast to pass through as well.

"Wait, if he's a hologram..." Something clicked in Robin's head. He turned around sharply to see that the gloves were no longer in the glass case and something small was sneaking out the other door. "Stop that robot!" he yelled, pointing at the exit. Beast Boy was closest. He morphed into a leopard, dodging another swing of the cloaked droid's scythe, and pounced onto the small figure. There was a metallic clang as its head was dashed against the ground, denting the metal skull. Upon this closer inspection, Beast Boy saw that the robot was in the shape of a small boy with a crippled leg and a crutch. In its free hand were the gloves. The robot lifted its crutch and aimed it at Beast Boy's face, the tip beginning to glow orange. Beast Boy turned into a gorilla, grabbed the crutch and turned it around just before a deadly laser was fired. The amber beam blasted the robot, melting its torso almost immediately.

"God bless us, everyone..." the robot croaked weakly before going still, gloves falling from its limp hand.

"You killed Tiny Tim!" Mad Mod's hologram cried in horror. "Christmas Future, off with his head!"

Beast Boy turned and watched in frozen terror as the third robot raised the scythe above his head and brought it down. Just as the blade was about to slice through his neck, it was encased in dark energy and wrenched from the robots grip. It turned about in mid air and cleaved the robot in two.

"Thanks, Raven," breathed Beast Boy, transforming back into a human and getting up off the floor, clutching the gloves.

Starfire and Cyborg, meanwhile, were shooting star bolts and sonic blasts at the small, white robot. However, this was proving difficult as the droid was very fast and agile, dodging most of their attacks with ease.

"This isn't working," Cyborg called, growling slightly as he missed yet again. "It's too fast."

"If we only knew where the real Mad Mod was," said Starfire, "We could use his controlling cane to terminate the robot."

Robin frowned, a determined look on his face. "Cyborg, can you use the other robots to track down Mod's signal?"

Cyborg glanced at the three broken forms of the other robots and smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

'What's wrong, my duckies?" asked Mad Mod, cackling as he waved his cane about dramatically. "Run out of Christmas spirit?"

"He's directly beneath us," Cyborg told Robin, tapping the screen in his arm. Robin nodded, rushed out of the room and thundered down the stairwell before bursting into the area below where Mad Mod was plugged into a large machine, laughing evilly.

"This carol's over, Scrooge," Robin said, bo-staff held firmly in front of him. Mod turned in his chair, grabbing his cane as he did so.

"Come in and know me better, man!" he croaked with a smirk, standing up and brandishing his cane, the tip of which opened up to allow a thin blade to slide out. Despite the old man's best efforts, Robin disarmed him easily, knocking the cane out of his hand and sending it flying across the room where it snapped against a wall. "Bah," said Mod, "humbug."

The police soon arrived to handcuff Mod and shove him into the back of the police car. "You won't be so lucky next time," the Brit cried, "I'll have you boiled with your own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through your heart!"

"Eurgh, nasty," Cyborg commented as the team walked back to the T-Car.

"This has been a most strange night," remarked Starfire.

"Why do I get the feeling," Raven said dryly, "it's going to get a lot stranger?"


	3. Poules

The Titans were only half way home when the alarm went off again. "Aw, man. Three crimes in one night?" Cyborg complained as Robin leant forward to press a button on the dashboard.

"The Opera house," he said before being thrown to the right as Cyborg suddenly swerved sharply to the left. "Something set off the alarms. We're not sure who, or what, it is."

They made it to the Opera house in five minutes, where Cyborg parked on the curb outside, and the Titans hurtled into the building. The Opera house was huge; made out of steel and planes of thick, marbled glass. Through the twisting, winding corridors they ran, past dressing rooms and cafe areas and studios, following a group of security guards who had met them at the door. Every now and again they'd come across a paralyzed guard, slumped on the ground, and patches of sticky residue on the walls and ceiling corners.

"Looks like Fang," said Cyborg. They skidded to a halt by a dressing room, outside of which were several unconscious and paralyzed men. The Titans glanced at each other then entered. The room had been ransacked, with tables tipped over and shards of smashed mirror all over the floor. The chaos was accompanied by a dramatic wailing from above.

"Madame Beauparlant!" one of the guards cried. "Madame St. Sauveur!"

Suspended from the ceiling by large amounts of sticky webbing were two women. Both were broad shouldered and fairly plump, however one had tanned skin and golden hair, whilst the other was a brunette with a paler complexion. Starfire and Raven immediately flew up and freed them before bringing them gently to the ground.

"Zere was a monster! A 'orrible monster! 'e 'ad a spider for a 'ead!" the blonde, who wore a blue, silk dress, shrieked.

"It stolen ours jewels!" said the other, straightening out her crumpled red skirt. "And sticked us to ze ceiling."

"It stole my sapphire necklace!" cried the first. Her fingers scratched at her bare throat. "It was a gift from my 'usband!"

Robin touched his hand to a splattering of web on the wall, but quickly drew away. "Still sticky."

"'e leaved four minutes before," the woman in red told them. "Per'aps you are catching 'im?"

Before Robin could reply, there was a screech from outside the room. The Titans leapt into action and burst through the door, entering the corridor just in time to see the monstrous form of Fang scuttle around a corner. On the floor by his feet was another woman, slimmer than the first two, in an opulent purple gown.

"Aidez-moi!" she cried. "Mes diamants! Mes rubis! Mes bébés mousseux!"

The Titans ran past her, preparing attacks as they tore after Fang. The woman in purple frowned as she watched them run. "Donc, tu ne vas pas à m'aider à me relever?"

They reached Fang in seconds, Starfire blasting him into the pale cream wall with her eyebeams. Before he had a chance to pick himself up, Robin slammed his bo-staff into his head. Fang crumpled, but turned and fired a web in their direction. Robin leapt out of the way, but Starfire and Beast Boy weren't so quick and found themselves stuck to the opposite wall.

Fang stood and made to run, but was stopped by a door appearing in his patch, having been wrenched off its hinges by Raven. He tried to go a different way, but another piece of door blocked him. The two pieces suddenly slammed together, squashing him between them.

There was a growl and a grunt of excursion, followed by the doors being shoved away from each other. Fang began shooting sticky blasts wildly around the room. The remaining Titans ducked and rolled in effort to avoid them, though one of them caught Cyborg's leg and flung him into the heavy black door at the end of the hall. It crumpled under the force and caved in then was blasted into the ceiling by the bright blue beam of his sonic cannon. He was on his feet for barely a second before Fang barrelled into him and through another set of heavy doors. By this time, Starfire and Beast Boy had freed themselves from their sticky entanglement on the wall. They joined their team mates in chasing after Fang, following him through thick, black curtains and onto the rubbery floor of the stage. Fang scuttled immediately to the front and into the auditorium. He had a bit of trouble getting across the red and purple plush seats, in his attempt to reach the back doors. The audience had long since been evacuated from the building, leaving his path clear.

"Star, Raven, fly ahead and bar the doors. We'll hold him back," called Robin. The two girls shot forward to the exit doors, Starfire melting them shut and Raven ripping up bits of furniture to block them. Cyborg continued to fire his sonic canon at the crook whilst Robin threw exploding disks. Accuracy was proving difficult in the low light of the auditorium, lit only by the small side lamps on the walls and the glow of Starfire and Cyborg's attacks. Fang was tearing chairs from the rows and using them to defend himself.

"Beast Boy!" yelled Robin. "We need light!"

"On it!" he replied, morphing into a bat. He fluttered around the dark room, searching for something to help illuminate the area, and eventually found the window leading to a space at the back where the control panel for the stage lights were. Taking a deep breath he shot toward the glass panel, shifting into a bull at the last minute and breaking through. Without missing a beat he turned back into a human and sat down at the control panel, cracking his knuckles. "Right…let's see…uhhh…"

After letting his finger hover over a few buttons he noticed a small label reading 'chandelier'. Beast Boy slammed his hand on the button next to it and immediately the ceiling to the auditorium exploded with light as a giant crystal chandelier was lit.

"That bright enough for you?" Beast Boy yelled through the hole in the window. He didn't get a reply but his efforts had done the trick as Robin and Cyborg had managed to corner Fang in the middle of the aisle. Beast Boy watched from his perch before glancing around, trying to think of something to do to help. Then his eyes fell on something and he adopted a wide, excited grin. "I've always wanted to do this…" he said before leaping into the air and taking flight as an eagle. He landed on the top of the chandelier, morphing into a monkey, and began undoing the links attaching the light fitting to the chains holding it up.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" he bellowed and a second later the chandelier came crashing down. Robin and Cyborg leapt out of the way, but Fang wasn't so agile.

"Nice, thinking, BB," Cyborg said, patting Beast Boy's shoulder. "Little violent though."

Robin didn't look so impressed. "He's breathing, at least."

"Ze chandelier! Mon dieu…Ah, ze man spider! It is 'ideous! Is it dead?" The three ladies had caught up with them, and were staring in disgust at Fang's limp form.

"It is no dead," the woman in red snapped. "It is, as is said, incon-see-us."

"Mes bijoux. Où sont mes bijoux? Je veux que mes bijoux!" the purple woman moaned. Raven used her magic to extract Fang's bag from the shattered chandelier and unzipped it, revealing a treasure trove of gold and gemstones. Immediately, the three women descended upon the bag, ripping out everything and slipping it on. Soon, they were dripping with riches; more jewel than lady.

"Zank you, zank you!" the blue woman said, grabbing Robin and kissing his cheeks. "'ow can we ever repay you…?"

"Ah, us are sorry," the red woman said. "Zere 'ave not had ze introduc-tee-ons. I am Lisette St. Sauveur."

"My name is Euphrasie Beauparlant," said the blue woman. "And zis is Veronique Dufort."

"She does no speak ze English," Lisette added. Veronique frowned at the team of superheroes, sharp green eyes taking in the strange appearance and interesting attire.

"Qui sont ces gens destinés à être? Le cirque? Cirque de monstres, plus comme!"

"Anyone speak French?" Cyborg asked, staring blankly at Veronique.

"I perhaps could learn i-" Starfire began but Robin cut her off.

"No need, Star," he hastily said.

"Do not be ze worrying," Lisette said. "I can talking for you to her."

Robin nodded. "We're the Teen Titans. We're superheroes."

Lisette repeated this in French to Veronique. Veronique's frown deepened as she stepped forward, eyes trained on Robin. "Qui êtes-vous? La lumière de trafic d'êtres humains?" she eventually asked.

Robin didn't look impressed. He wasn't sure what she'd said, but judging by her tone it wasn't a compliment. "Je suis Robin, le leader. C'est Cyborg, Starfire, Raven et Beast Boy," he said, pointing to each member of his team in turn, hoping that directly addressing her in his attempt at French would improve her attitude towards them.

Veronique said nothing, but instead proceeded to inspect each Titan one by one.

"I apologize. Veronique does not like anyzing zat is not French," Euphrasie explained. "She is very patriotic."

"I see." He glanced over at the purple-clad woman, who was hovering over Beast Boy.

"Ah! Celui-ci est vert!" she exclaimed. "Quel genre de plaisanterie est-ce? Et sa dent? At-il jamais été chez le dentiste? Bien que peut-être il est un chirurgien plastique dont il a besoin. Regardez ces oreilles!"

"Uh, merci?" Beast Boy tried, having not understood a word of it.

"We having to find a way to zank you!" said Lisette. "Ah, I know! Tickets to our concert!"

"Concert?" Beast Boy perked up and scurried over. Veronique had moved on to Raven.

"Il est un vampire de leur équipe," said Veronique. "Ou peut-être un moine? Vous êtes sûr que ce sont des super-héros et pas un nouveau culte religieux?"

"Oui, a concert!" Lisette smiled widely.

"We sing," explained Euphrasie. "In fact, we were in ze middle of a concert when zat 'orrible monster attacked us in our dressing room. Veronique was on stage at ze time, for 'er solo."

Veronique had by now left Raven to stare in horror at Cyborg. "Celui-ci ne porte pas de vêtements! Et il fait partie machine! Si ce n'est une sorte de nouvelle mode de la mode alors je ne suis pas impressionné. Il ressemble à un costume de Lady Gaga!"

"We 'ave anozer one in zree days!" said Lisette. "You are welcome to watch us!"

"We are world famous opera singers!" Euphrasie threw her arms out as she said this, large sapphire pendant bouncing on her chest. "Perhaps you 'ave 'eard of us? Les trois poules Françaises!"

"Uhh…" Robin, Beast Boy and Raven exchanged looks before shaking their heads. "Sorry, no," Robin apologised. Behind him, Veronique was looking Starfire up and down with her steely eyes.

" Celui-ci est très jolie. Mais si impudique! Mettez des vêtements, femme! Une jeune fille de votre âge ne devrait révéler la peau tellement!" Veronique's unimpressed frown melted into an awe-filled gaze as she grabbed one of Starfire's hands. "Je fais comme si ses gants; ces fines émeraudes!"

"Oh, well, you will be wishing you 'ad when you 'ear us at ze concert," said Euphrasie. "I will go get someone to alert ze ticket offic-"

She was cut off by Robin's communicator, which had begun to beep loudly and flash red. "Not another alarm!" Beast Boy moaned.

"Where now?" asked Raven.

Robin flipped open the communicator. "The electronics store," he said, snapping it shut and returning it to his belt. "Sorry, we have to go."

"Oh, well, zank you. I will 'ave the tickets sent to your 'ouse! Farewell Titans!"

The Titans left the opera house, after assuring guards that the paralysis would wear off eventually, and trooped back into the car. As they pulled away from the building, a couple of police cars were arriving.

The night was far from over.


	4. Callers

Red lights were flashing from the windows of the electronics store when the T-Car skidded to a halt on the pavement and the Titans hurtled out into the cold, wintry air. Dark clouds were rolling in, obscuring the stars and moon. The door to the shop was wide open, no signs of a forced entry. The Titans paid no heed to this and rushed over the threshold.

The front half of the store looked untouched. Indeed, if it wasn't for the throbbing scarlet light flooding the room every few seconds and glinting on the merchandise, they wouldn't have believed anyone had broken in at all. At the back, however, by a large, flashy display, were two shadowy figures. The alarm lights didn't quite reach the figures, which remained in complete darkness.

"Aww crud! It's those snot-munching Titans!" said a whiny voice from the shadows, followed by a deep grunt and a growl. Starfire lit her hand with a starbolt, casting a green glow over the figures.

"Gizmo, Mammoth," Robin said. "Little late to be doing your Christmas shopping."

Neither one appeared to be in the mood for witty banter. Gizmo, using helicopter blades which had sprung suddenly from his backpack, took off into the air whilst Mammoth rushed forward, club-like arms raised above his head, ready to strike.

Beast Boy was too quick. He morphed into a tiger and leapt, clamping his jaws on Mammoth's arms. There was a short struggle, ending in Mammoth succeeding in flinging the green tiger from his arm. Beast Boy hit one of the display cases with a thump, sending spidery cracks through the glass.

"Starfire, Cyborg, stop Gizmo," ordered Robin as he and Raven stirred into action to take down Mammoth. Gizmo was near the ceiling, above the flashy display, fiddling with the control pad on his arm. He was suitable distracted, and so gave a cry of alarm when a blue jet of sonic energy narrowly missed him by inches.

"Barf-sneezing, butt-chewing crud monkeys," he muttered angrily, swinging this way and that to avoid the starbolts being pounded at him from Starfire's fists. However, one managed to hit the helicopter blades and he tumbled out of the air, catching himself on one of the shelving units. Growling, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of tiny bombs which he proceeded to lob at the Titan below.

Raven, meanwhile, had torn pieces of the ceiling off and was wrapping them around Mammoth when one of Gizmo's bombs exploded at her feet and knocked her down. Beast Boy, seeing Mammoth beginning to wriggle from his bindings, shifted into a large python and wound himself around the giant, squeezing tightly.

The last of Gizmo's bombs hit the display at the back, shattering the glass. Dodging more starbolts and sonic canon blasts, he rushed towards it and jumped down, clambering inside where four flashy phones were held in fine, metal claws. Gizmo grabbed the phones, but didn't get any further than that, as Cyborg, had scooped by the back of his jumpsuit and held him at arm's length in front of him.

"We'll take those," Robin said, snatching the phones from the squirming boy.

"Aww, come on!" Gizmo whined, wriggling in Cyborg's grasp, kicking and punching the air.

"Looks like you're getting coal again this year, and a nice seasonal holiday in prison," said Robin. They marched him down to where Beast Boy was still restraining Mammoth. The Titans were tying the two up when a police car finally arrived and two officers got out. "We'll take it from here," one of the officers said as she surveyed the scene.

"Less damage than usual," the other officer observed, frowning beneath his moustache. "They try to steal much?"

"Actually, no," Robin replied. "It looked like they were only after a few phones." He held up the four phones Gizmo had tried to steal.

"Not just any phone!" Beast Boy cut in, having just morphed back into a human. "They're brand new, top of the range, phones! Avian line!"

"Avian line?"

"Hey, I've heard of these," the officer said. "There was an advert the other day. Called Birds or something. Fancy new phones. My daughter wants one for Christmas. They've only just been released so she'll have to make do with the newest aPhone…"

"aPhones are good, but nothing compared to these babies," Beast Boy said before launching into a rant about the new features the Avian Line of phones had to offer. Robin, not listening, looked at the phones more closely, now that they were properly illuminated by the street lamps outside. They were fairly square, and held in a leather case which had two flaps opening out left and right of the screen. The cases were of four different colours; red, green, purple and blue, and held slots to keep money, tickets and cards in. The phones themselves were different sizes; the red was the smallest, then the purple, then the green and the blue was the largest.

"They've all got different names, and have different apps already downloaded depending. Obviously you can customise when you've bought it… blue's call the Eagle. The green is the Hawk. The purple is the Falcon and the red…ha! The red's the Robin. Maybe we should get you one?" Beast Boy nudged Robin playfully, to which the leader scowled and marched back into the shop to put the phones back in the display case.

The female police officer returned then, lips pursed. "That's those two loaded," she said. "Holding cells are filling up fast."

"Yeah, lots of crime tonight, eh guys?" said the other officer. "You lot must be getting tired - I know I am. And Christmas eve of all nights."

"Tell me about it," Beast Boy moaned.

He gave them a sympathetic look but couldn't say anymore as his partner whisked him away back to the car to take Gizmo and Mammoth to prison.

"I swear, if we get one more call…" Cyborg began, leading the way to the T-Car. They clambered in, and had barely shut the doors when the alarm began ringing once again.

"The observatory," Robin said, and they were off.


End file.
